Michael Smith


Matthew Robert Smith(born 28 October 1982) is an English stage and television actor. An aspiring youth footballer, Smith became an actor after a back injury. His first performance was in Murder in the Cathedral as part of the National Youth Theatre. He became a professional actor in 2003, notably starring in Fresh Kills and alongside Christian Slater in the stage adaptation of Swimming with Sharks.

Smith's first television role came in 2006, as Jim Taylor in the BBC adaptations of Phillip Pullman's The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North. His first major role in television came in 2007, as Danny in the BBC series Party Animals, and his first West End theatre role came in the same year in Swimming with Sharks, followed a year later by a critically acclaimed performance as Henry in That Face.[3] In late 2008, Smith was cast to play the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the British television series Doctor Who, beginning with the show's fifth series in 2010.

Early Year

Smith was born and grew up in Northampton, and attended Northampton School for Boys for secondary school. He planned to be a professional football player, having played for the youth teams of Northampton Town F.C., Nottingham Forest F.C., and Leicester City F.C.. After a serious back injury, his drama teacher introduced him to acting by surreptitiously signing him up as the tenth juror in an adaptation of Twelve Angry Men. Although he took part in the play, he declined going to a drama festival that his teacher had signed him up for. His drama teacher persisted, and eventually persuaded him to join the National Youth Theatre in London. After leaving school, Smith studied drama and creative writing at the University of East Anglia.

Smith's first theatre roles came as part of the National Youth Theatre were Thomas Becket in Murder in the Cathedral and Basoon in The Master and Margarita. His role in the latter earned him an agent and his first professional jobs: Fresh Kills and On the Shore of the Wide World. His new professional roles led to him being required to seek an agreement with his university so that he could graduate without attending lectures in his final two terms.

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